Still Have This Side – Chapter 3

【Vicious Supporting Female Mission Released: Show goodwill towards the male lead.】

Qiu Baiyu stopped at the school gate and turned around to look at Jiang Zimin, who had been holding her hand and insisted on seeing her off to the gate. “Alright, I’ll stop here. I’m leaving now, you should go back.”

Jiang Zimin didn’t let go of her fingers, looking at her with bright eyes, her fair little face full of a happy, adoring smile.

Before today, this child was still timid in front of her, without a smile on her face, and wouldn’t cry or complain when hurt.

At this moment, in her heart, Qiu Baiyu must be a remarkable adult.

Qiu Baiyu didn’t find her annoying or in a hurry to send her away, but instead, crouched down to be at eye level with her and asked, “What’s wrong, do you still have something to tell me?”

Jiang Zimin immediately said, “Auntie, thank you. I’m really happy you came!”

Although Qiu Baiyu had been cold to her before, at least today she really protected her!

Then, she looked at Qiu Baiyu with great anticipation: “You’ll come again next time, right? And, can you come pick me up from school this afternoon? And tomorrow… Auntie, you’ll take care of me in the future, right?”

Her words were full of expectation and grew more cautious, fearing that this was the only time in her life she would be protected, and even more afraid that Qiu Baiyu would suddenly go back to being like her father, who ignored her.

Her cautious words suddenly struck a chord in Qiu Baiyu’s heart.

She suddenly realized a serious problem: if she left this world now, would the system make someone else become this stepmother, and what would happen to Jiang Zimin?

She directly asked the system in her heart: If I leave, will someone else become this stepmother?

The system said: 【Yes.】

Qiu Baiyu: Will you also make that person guide Jiang Zimin to become a malicious supporting female?

System: 【Yes.】

Qiu Baiyu: …

Qiu Baiyu’s brows immediately furrowed.

If she left and the second host had no conscience and sided with the system, what would happen?

Wouldn’t Jiang Zimin be pushed towards the fate of becoming a malicious supporting female again?

But the child in front of her was clearly obedient and fragile. Forcing her to become a heinous person would be too cruel. If someone had deliberately led her astray when she was being bullied back in the day, she definitely wouldn’t have wanted it either.

Qiu Baiyu lowered her eyes in contemplation and finally realized that to save Jiang Zimin, she couldn’t just protect her once and then leave easily.

Saving someone is not a matter of a day or a night.

She quietly observed the child in front of her, who had many similarities to the child she once was.

Protecting Jiang Zimin was, in a way, also protecting the part of her that had been bullied during that time.

She recalled the hint the system had given her in the office: the world is not static.

If a malicious supporting female could rise to a leading role, wouldn’t that mean the plot here could be changed?

If a supporting female could become a lead, couldn’t a bullied and suppressed child become confident and cheerful?

With this thought, a bold idea came to mind.

She asked in her heart: If I stay here forever, will no one come to replace me?

The system’s answer was still that one word: 【Yes.】

【The host has already been bound to this character. Until the host voluntarily gives up, no second host will enter this body.】

Qiu Baiyu suddenly knew what she had to do.

She was already dead, and dying again wouldn’t change that. Since that was the case, why not stay in this world and start anew, helping Jiang Zimin break free from her doomed fate and find her own life?

Starting over in an unfamiliar place wasn’t a big deal; she had experience—it wasn’t her first time.

“Auntie Baiyu, why aren’t you saying anything?” Jiang Zimin softly asked again, “Did I make you unhappy?”

Qiu Baiyu raised her eyes to look at Jiang Zimin once more.

She once saw a question online: If you met your childhood self, what would you do?

At the time, she had just glanced at it and moved on, never expecting to find the answer today.

What would she do?

Of course, she would stay with her and make sure she wasn’t bullied anymore.

Qiu Baiyu raised her hand and gently patted Jiang Zimin’s shoulder. Having figured out the future, her eyes also brightened considerably. “Alright, I’ll come to pick you up after school this afternoon.”

“I’ll come tomorrow too, and the day after tomorrow.”

“As long as I’m free, I’ll come to pick you up.”

Hearing this, Jiang Zimin couldn’t help but cheer with raised arms, “Yay!”

She finally had an adult to protect her!

“But don’t let this be the third time you just endure being bullied,” Qiu Baiyu said. “Respect and courtesy are mutual. If someone doesn’t respect you and bullies you, then treat them the same way they treat you, understand?

“As long as you don’t bully others or do bad things, Auntie Baiyu will always have your back, no matter what.”

Jiang Zimin nodded vigorously after hearing this, “Mm! I won’t become like Liu Jianhui!”

She hated Liu Jianhui, and she definitely didn’t want to become like him!

“Very good.”

Qiu Baiyu nodded approvingly.

Jiang Zimin’s eyes curved with a joyful smile.

Seeing Jiang Zimin like this, Qiu Baiyu couldn’t help but curve her eyes in a smile as well.

The bright sunlight kissed her fair face, her smile melting into the light, soft as water.

It was as if she saw her younger self, who would be very happy just to be protected.

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After having lunch at home, Qiu Baiyu began to reassess the Jiang family residence.

A few days ago, when she first arrived, she was determined to leave and paid no attention to these wealthy families. Now that she decided to stay, she was finally willing to take a good look around.

It was a standalone large villa, one of the properties under Jiang Shen’s name. It was vast and expansive, with luxurious and tasteful decor.

From top to bottom, inside and out, every item in the house was from brands that Qiu Baiyu couldn’t even name.

Such a house was something she had only seen in property viewing videos during her lifetime, and it was quite stunning.

In the living room on the second floor, there was a black piano.

The piano looked brand new, as if it had been meticulously maintained all along.

Qiu Baiyu didn’t need to guess to know that it was under the male lead’s orders.

Because the female lead he liked had a favorite instrument—the piano.

In the novel, the female lead, Yi Wanyue, would later become a world-renowned pianist.

As for the male lead, since he couldn’t have the female lead for now, he placed her shadow all over the house and even got a stand-in.

A despicable kind of devotion.

Qiu Baiyu withdrew her gaze and returned to the original owner’s room, standing in the walk-in closet to examine the clothes hanging there.

All white.

Well, not exactly, at least a few pairs of pants weren’t white; otherwise, this aesthetic would be disastrously monotonous.

The most important thing was, this wasn’t the original owner’s taste, but the aesthetic of the male lead who saw her as a stand-in.

The original owner deeply loved the male lead Jiang Shen, but Jiang Shen admired the female lead Yi Wanyue. Thus, he found a stand-in in the original owner to keep at home. Although he didn’t often come home to see the stand-in, he persistently molded her into the image of Yi Wanyue.

The hairstyle had to be the same, the clothing and dressing style had to be the same, and even the personality and tone had to be the same.

Qiu Baiyu couldn’t be Qiu Baiyu; she had to be Yi Wanyue.

Lunatic.

Qiu Baiyu internally ridiculed.

How could someone who truly loves another find a stand-in under the guise of love, even marrying her to make her his legitimate wife?

Jiang Shen even had a child with someone else after a drunken night.

A truly drunk person can’t even get into bed; this so-called devoted male lead is merely a man who thinks with his lower half, wrapped in a pleasant facade.

She absolutely, absolutely would not fall for such a person.

But the current married state gave her a headache.

Qiu Baiyu had been single for almost thirty years, and waking up in a magical world after an untimely death was already unbelievable enough. To top it off, she also gained a husband, which was utterly ridiculous and hard to accept!

However, the silver lining was that they would divorce.

The system mentioned during the background introduction that she and the male lead would definitely get divorced.

Because if they didn’t divorce, the male and female leads couldn’t get married. This world exists to serve the two protagonists, and it would never allow a situation where the male lead couldn’t divorce the supporting female character.

Thinking this way, she felt a bit more at ease and even a little excited.

Because of money.

No one in this world doesn’t love money.

As an ordinary corporate worker who had worked hard all her life, she loved money.

In the novel world, the domineering CEO owned countless properties. She believed that after the divorce, she would surely get a substantial amount of money, right?

Since she had already decided to stay, why not use this huge sum to experience a carefree new life?

Moreover, given the male lead’s indifferent attitude toward the child, she believed that after the divorce, she could take Jiang Zimin away, allowing her to leave this environment early, which would also be beneficial for her growth.

Divorce.

It had to happen, and the sooner the better. She had no interest in being part of someone else’s love play.

Just as she was thinking, the door was suddenly knocked on, and a Jiang family servant softly reminded from outside, “Madam, Master Jiang has returned.”

Qiu Baiyu came back to her senses, her brows furrowing slightly.

Why did the male lead suddenly come back? There wasn’t the white moonlight he wanted here… though there was a stand-in for the white moonlight.

She truly didn’t know why the male lead had suddenly returned.

The system initially only introduced the world background to her, providing only a few key turning points of the main storyline and some basic character and relationship settings. As for the plot details and specific developments, it didn’t provide any. When asked, the answer was: immersive experience.

The system believed that since she was to experience a new life, she shouldn’t know too many details. Otherwise, it would reduce the sense of anticipation, lack freshness, and become dull and uninteresting.

If people knew what was going to happen every second of their lives, it would become boring over time.

Therefore, regarding the current plot, the only important storyline Qiu Baiyu knew was: the female lead Yi Wanyue was about to return to the country.

Who knows who decided that the white moonlight loves to go abroad.

In this novel, the love story between the male and female leads gradually unfolds after the female lead returns to the country. But at this time, the male lead is already a married man.

Qiu Baiyu didn’t understand why the plot was set up this way, and she couldn’t comprehend how the female lead could fall for this male lead.

Married, verbally devoted, irresponsible, dishonest, restless… How could a man with so many flaws be charming?

She didn’t get it.

She really didn’t get it.

Qiu Baiyu shook her head and turned to walk towards the door.

Although she didn’t know why the female lead would like the male lead, nor why the male lead, who had never returned here, would suddenly come back, it was——a timely return.

Opening the door, before she could go downstairs, the male lead Jiang Shen was already coming up.

He was heading to his own room and happened to pass by her room.

The two met face to face.

The man before her was handsome and attractive, with flawless looks, but his gaze toward Qiu Baiyu was indifferent, calm to the point of being cold.

This was Qiu Baiyu’s first time seeing the male lead after crossing over.

The next second, the system panel popped up again: 【Vicious Supporting Female Mission Released: Show goodwill towards the male lead.】

Qiu Baiyu calmly raised an eyebrow, surprised in her heart.

So this system also wanted her to meddle in the protagonists’ romantic storyline?

Ignoring the mission panel, her calm gaze slowly shifted to the male lead, very polite yet direct—

“Hello, divorce.”

Jiang Shen: “?”

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